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Thanks…now on to the good stuff!

If you are serious about getting prepared for an emergency situation, an Emergency Binder needs to be on your list of things to get done.

And you’re in luck because today we are going to talk about what an emergency binder is, why you need one, and what needs to be included.

This binder will become your security blanket for virtually any type of emergency you could face.

What is an Emergency Binder?

I’m so glad you asked!

An emergency binder is a binder that houses all of your most important documents and critical information. This binder is designed to be your one stop shop for all medical, financial, and household records.

It houses every vital document your family might need to help in a disaster situation.

Why should I have one?

You may be thinking why do I need one of those?

Well, let me start with the startling statistic that more than 40% of homes in the US are at risk for a natural disaster in any given year. That means 35 million Americans are in homes that could experience a fire, tornado, hurricane, or other natural disaster this year.

I don’t share those numbers to scare you, but rather to encourage you to be prepared!

You may be thinking, yeah I get that, but I know where all my important documents are in my house and I could grab them if I needed them.

So, let’s really think about that for a minute.

Imagine you are home with your family on a Saturday afternoon. You hear a knock on your door and it’s a power company employee with a police escort that informs you there is a gas leak in your area.

They tell you have 10 minutes to get all of your stuff and get out of your house.

Would you have time to grab EVERYTHING you might need?

Shoes for the kids, the dog, a few sets of clothes for everyone, your family photo album, and of course ALL of your important documents.

Now take it one step further and imagine that your house was damaged by a fire that was created by the gas leak.

You are now being asked to produce documentation of what was damaged and are told to contact your insurance company so you can start the claim.

Do you have everything you need at your finger-tips after dashing out the door?

NOW imagine how comforting it would be to know you had all of your important documentation with you because you were able to grab your binder before you were evacuated.

Again, the scenario isn’t meant to scare you, but rather illustrate just one example of how an emergency binder might come in handy.

What should I put in my binder?

Okay, so if you are still reading, I’ll assume you are at least on board with the idea of building an emergency binder.

But now you are probably asking, what on earth do I put in this magical stress relieving binder?

Here’s the reality, everyone will have a slightly different list of what should go in their binder based on their individual needs and their family situation.

However, everyone should start with these basic categories (please note that my example docs are not all-inclusive, they are designed to be a jump start for you to work with)

1. Personal documents (think drivers licenses, passports, birth certificates, etc)

2. Financial documents (copy of your bank account numbers & contact info for your banks)

3. Medical records (shot records, surgery information, prescription list)

4. Household records (deeds, insurance info, etc)

5. Pet records (if you have pets)

6. Vehicle information (titles, loan info, insurance cards)

7. School documentation (diplomas, school transcripts, etc)

8. Misc (emergency contact list, family ID information, maps of local area, etc)

Again, this list is designed to get you started. (You can download a free checklist here for a complete list)

Think through all of the documentation you keep stored in your home, and decide what you want to have stored in your binder for an emergency.

One note of caution, don’t assume you’ll be able to get to the internet easily to download important documents in an emergency situation. It’s easy to assume the internet will always be there, but it’s even better to have physical copies of your vital information.

So how do I store this information?

Okay, so you may be thinking to yourself, that’s great that you want me to put every piece of important information in one place…no way am I going to be that dumb!

Trust me I get it.

The information in this binder IS incredibly important and should be safeguarded.

In my mind the two biggest threats are a fire that destroys your property or the loss of the binder due to theft or heaven forbid misplacing it somewhere. I’m sure there are other risks out there, but this what we will chat about today.

You have a few options for keeping all of your information safe.

I store our physical binder in a fireproof safe.

Our thought process here is that it is protected both from a fire and from anyone who broke into our home. This is a great option if you have one, or would like to get one from a security perspective.

If you are the more worried about a fire than a theft, consider keeping the binder in safety deposit box at a local bank, or with a trusted relative or VERY close friend. The downside to these options is making sure you can access the binder easily if there is an emergency.

If you want to keep your binder at home, but are more worried about theft, “camaflouge” your binder with a great label that won’t attract the attention of someone looking for valuable information.

Think “grandma’s recipes” or “Bailey’s art work.” YOU DON’T WANT to label your binder with the words “emergency binder,” or “vital information,” since that would make it an instant theft magnet.

You could also store your binder with other non-important stuff in your home to reduce the chance of some random burglar stumbling upon it.

We actually took our storage one step further.

We chose to scan all of the documents in our emergency binder and store them on encrypted jump drives.

My husband and I each keep a jump drive in our emergency packs and one on our set of back-up keys we keep by the back door. That way if we do need to leave our house in an emergency, we can just grab the extra sets of keys, and we know we have a copy of all our vital documents with us.

I’d just recommend picking a storage option you are comfortable with right now. You can always change how you store your information in the future.

An Emergency Binder is a great way to get moving forward on your preparations.

If you’re at all like me, it will give you a huge sense of accomplishment when you get all of your information neatly organized and stored.

I’d love to hear what you end up storing your emergency binder. Add any good ideas in the comments below!